Connoisseur of all things pop culture

Pop Culture Weekend

This weekend was a busy one, but I didn’t do anything particularly exciting on the pop culture front. Mostly the weekend was spent hanging out with friends, which was great; I’m away so much that it’s rare that I get to spend so much time with my various friend groups. My limited time with pop culture was mostly clearing out the DVR and trying to stay current with my Sunday night shows (which I generally succeeded with, minus a technical glitch with my HBO GO app). Here are the highlights:

I did watch the Hamilton’s America PBS documentary because I’m pretty sure that I am contractually obligated to watch everything and anything related to Hamilton. I thought it was an interesting look at the process behind putting the show together, but if people thought that they were going to see a lot of musical numbers they were probably pretty disappointed. There were performances throughout the documentary, but they were just snippets; no song was shown in its entirety. But for those who haven’t been able to snag a ticket yet, it did give some insight into the staging of the show, which is the one thing that is lacking from just listening to the original cast recording. Plus now I know that there is an Alexander Hamilton statue in Central Park that I can try to find; I guarantee that I get lost in this quest, since it once took me TWO HOURS to find the Captain America statue in Prospect Park. If you missed the doc, it’s currently streaming online.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot recently debuted on one of the movie channels so I had DVRed it. This came out in March of this year, while I was still recovering from my Oscar prep binge, so I missed it in the theater. It was fine, but I’m glad that I watched it at home on a cold and rainy night rather than paying money to see it in the theater. There was a lot going on in this movie and I don’t think it ever fully found its groove or tone. Still, it was amusing and I’m always down to see anything with Tina Fey in it. Not as funny as I expected, but I guess there is a limit on how many jokes you can mine from war reporting.

I finally got the chance to catch up on the first two episodes of the new season of Supergirl, which jumped from CBS to the CW. So far I think that they are playing to the show’s strengths and eliminating stuff that didn’t work as well (I was never a fan of the James/Kara romance angle). They even managed to introduce Superman to the show without overshadowing Supergirl. My only complaint is that Calista Flockhart is no longer a regular cast member; her Cat Grant could deliver the best biting insults. Supergirl is never a show that I’ll love, but they have made a good show better.

I also watched Zoolander 2, which was so forgettable that I just spent twenty minutes trying to remember what the other movie I watched this weekend was. It was…not good. I say that as a fan of the original. Perfectly fine movie to have on in the background while I did other things, but no need to watch this one. At least it was relatively short.

I’ve been pretty MIA most of this baseball season – I think I just needed a break – but I did make sure to tune in to the final innings of the Cubs/Dodgers game to see the Cubbies clinch their Word Series berth. Despite my Yankee fandom, I do love an underdog. Here’s to hoping the Cubs bring home the trophy (sorry Cleveland).

Golden Girls re-runs – this is pretty much my go to when it’s on. I’ve seen every episode a million times, but I still love it. I am guessing that I am the only person who pregames football Sunday with Blanche, Rose, Dorothy and Sophia.

So how about you? What did you watch, read, or listen to this weekend? Share your pop culture consumption with us in the comments.